TRIPS to Glasgow were looked forward to with a certain relish during Alex Ferguson's days as manager of Aberdeen.

There would be tea and biscuits and a team talk before travelling south, an overnight stay in the Excelsior Hotel at Glasgow Airport, a little light training early Saturday morning and then off to Celtic Park or Ibrox to stick it to the Old Firm again after lunch.

The routine will be a little different as Derek McInnes and his players make their own way to Parkhead on Sunday for a very definite date with destiny, but the sense of purpose, for the first time in a long time, will be the same.

Kenny McLean has already started the ball rolling by expressing the view that the Dons have everything required to beat a Celtic side likely to be dealing with fatigue from Europa League activities in Milan and turn the act of maintaining a certain pressure on the defending champions into an all-out assault on the SPFL Premiership crown.

Just like old times, it seems Aberdeen really do believe they are coming to win. It is an attitude and approach so reminiscent of the 1980s that Neale Cooper, a veteran of the last team from the Granite City to win the league 30 years ago, has used his time out of the game since leaving Ross County to attend every home fixture at Pittodrie this season.

He likes what he sees. He believes his old club are capable of going all the way.

He knows the sense of anticipation that will exist within the current squad as they prepare to set sail for the east end of Glasgow and he calls upon his own personal experience to instruct McInnes' Class of 2015 that there really is no need to feel afraid.

Cooper's first trip to Celtic Park came in November 1980. Aberdeen had won their first league championship under Ferguson earlier that year.

He was 16 years old and under the impression he was only being taken along to help the club's well-kent kitman, Teddy Scott, lug hampers on and off the bus.

Yet, he ended up playing in the heart of the defence in place of Willie Miller and mounting an early rearguard action in a match in which Gordon Strachan was attacked by a supporter and Walker McCall scored either side of the interval to secure a 2-0 victory.

"I was only there for the experience of going away with the boys," recalled Cooper. "My job was to help Teddy with the kit, really.

"We had a light training session on the Saturday morning and Willie Miller felt that his groin was sore.

"No-one said anything to me, though. We had our lunch and I was just sitting around, delighted to be there. Fergie reads out the team and I am not really listening because I am not going to be part of it.

"Next thing I know, Teddy leans over and goes: 'I think he said your name there'.

"I said: 'Never'. Teddy went up to Fergie and asked: 'Did you say big Coops was playing?'.

"'Yes,' replied Fergie. 'He'll be at centre-half beside big Alex (McLeish).'

"I spent my week with the rest of the reserve lads. I hadn't really trained with the first-team, but the manager was saying: 'It's not a problem. Neale will do well'.

"I was peeing my pants about the thought of playing at Parkhead. I had made my debut against Kilmarnock a few weeks earlier, but I was a bag of nerves.

"We were going to the ground on the bus and the guys were great. Gordon Strachan, Willie Miller and McLeish were saying: 'All the best, Coops. All the best, Tattie.'

"I appreciated it all. I was feeling better. Ian Scanlon then came up to me and said: 'I canny believe you're playin'. You're 16. I'm worried you're gauny have a shocker.'

"When I finally did run out onto the pitch, I had punters shouting: 'Whit are you doin' here? Are you the mascot?'

"Big Alex helped me through it and we won. That was Fergie. If he believed in you, he'd play you. He didn't care what age you were. He showed that at Aberdeen and Manchester United."

Ferguson's motivational tactics during those halcyon days have become the stuff of legend. He waged war on his native Glasgow and changed the face of the sport.

Cooper does not believe McInnes will have to do anything revolutionary ahead of Sunday, though. The hard work he has put in since taking over the manager's job just under two years ago is already beginning to pay off.

"I don't think Derek has to do much," he said. "I see it in the players that they have the belief to go to Glasgow and win.

"I have met them a few times as a group of boys and they are very close-knit. You can see the players are happy with the way they are being asked to play, too.

"There is a certain hurt from losing the League Cup semi-final the other week and the fact Celtic have a hard game in Milan on Thursday night could help them. Aberdeen have a clear week and can put in a lot of work on their system.

"I did say around the turn of the year that I felt Aberdeen could win the league.

"I stick by what I said, but this game coming up is the acid test. Big-time.

"Aberdeen are a pleasure to watch at the moment, though. Derek has a squad with a nice blend of youth and experience and they are dominating games in addition to showing they can win on the road."